Softball: Tough finish for Libertyville as Z-B ralles at Buffalo Grove
Libertyville senior Jessie Lauret said she'll long remember all the great moments from this year's spectacular Wildcats softball season.
Still, after their tough loss to Zion-Benton on Saturday, it may take a little time for those pleasant memories to kick in.
The Wildcats claimed the North Suburban Conference championship for the first time in 22 years, won a school-record 29 games and advanced to the Buffalo Grove Class 4A sectional final, where they were on the doorstep of a victory.
Leading 4-2 going into the top of the seventh, top-seeded Libertyville watched No. 2 Zion-Benton score three times in the inning to win 5-4. Z-B, which split two games with Libertyville in NSC Lake Division play, will next play DeKalb in the Barrington supersectional at 7 p.m. Monday at the Fields of Dreams.
Libertyville finished 29-8.
"Our team bonded so well this season," Lauret, who played varsity softball for Zion-Benton as a freshman, said after registering 3 hits. "It was a great year. We had a few uncharacteristic bobbles in the field today, and we might have come out a little nervous in the seventh inning, and that cost us, but our hitting was great."
"My teammates," said Jamie Stevens, the only other senior on the Wildcats roster, when asked what she'll remember about this season. "And all the hard work we put in."
Libertyville had its chances throughout the contest, rapping out 8 hits and drawing 6 walks. But the Wildcats couldn't get the big hit when they needed it to put some distance between themselves and the Zee-Bees.
"We put ourselves in a position to win," Wildcats coach Elissa Wisniewski said. "But like I told the girls, Zion-Benton is a really good team, a really talented team. They were the No. 2 seed for a reason."
Libertyville scored three times in the bottom of the third, as Lauret, Kenzie Rother and Stevens all beat out infield hits to load the bases.
All three came around to score on RBI from Hannah Heraty, Lyndsey Lyon and Emily Hilldale. The Wildcats scored an insurance run in the sixth to go up 4-2 when a perfect squeeze bunt by Stevens plated Lauret.
In the Z-B seventh, the Zee-Bees loaded the bases with nobody out. The winning run scored when Zee-Bees relief pitcher Allison Lopez rapped a sharp grounder to second. Lopez, who said she had "no idea" she would be called upon to pitch, set the Wildcats down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh to earn the win.
"I was just trying to get (Libertyville) to hit the ball on the ground," Lopez said. "I really think the credit today should go to Makena (starting pitcher Makena Creekmore). She should get the win. She's the one who got us here."
Rother reached base three times on a walk and 2 singles. Heraty had the Wildcats' only extra-base hit, a double to the left-field fence.
Libertyville left 9 runners on base.
"We had some errors early on today," Wisniewski said. "If we didn't have those, we might have put ourselves in a better position. We might have let nerves get the better of us a little, but I'm extremely proud of the way the girls played all year. They led us to a lot of firsts for the program."